PORT TOWNSEND — A North Olympic Salmon Coalition official on Monday raised concerns about a proposed Port of Port Townsend graving yard location near Boat Haven, saying it threatened state-protected forage fish.
Addressing the Jefferson County commissioners Monday morning, Paula Mackrow, the coalition’s executive director, said the shoreline south of the Port’s marina to the old rail trestles was where waterfront habitat work determined it was a sandlance and surf smelt spawning site.
“They are small but important” to the chain of marine life, she said, particularly the salmon that feed on them.
Mackrow urged that environmental mitigation determinations “be done locally and not be given to a consultant.”
“We are here and you have some expertise on shoreline mitigation,” Mackrow said of the coalition.
Mackrow said a graving yard would “be a permanent change in the habitat,” one that “does not fit in the Port plan.”
Larry Crockett, Port executive director who is leading the proposal for the state Department of Transportation, said he was unaware that more than “one egg” of any forage fish had been discovered in the area Mackrow discussed.
He said the project would provide millions of mitigation dollars that would improve Port Townsend Bay more than hurt it.
